Rio Ferdinand appeared to endorse "choc ice" racism insult levelled at Ashley Cole on Twitter

London, July 15 (ANI): Manchester United striker Rio Ferdinand appeared to endorse an racist accusation against Ashley Cole on Twitter.

The comments came after it emerged that Cole had betrayed his 'race' yesterday for the statements the Chelsea defender gave at John Terry's trial last week.

According to The Telegraph, in a response to a tweet from another user in which Cole was described as Terry's "choc ice" and a "sellout" Ferdinand responded with "I hear you fella! Choc ice is classic hahahahahahahha!" which meant dark on the outside but white inside, and is a derogatory one often aims at black people.

Terry was found not guilty of racially abusing Ferdinand's brother, Anton, in a case, which saw Cole called as a witness for the defence.

Terry's defence centred on his claim he had only said the words 'f------ black c---' to deny using them after Ferdinand had accused him of saying it to him during a heated exchange between the pair.

Rio's tweet was subsequently deleted from his page and the Manchester United defender, who Cole described as a "friend" in court, later tweeted: "And if I want to laugh at something someone tweets....I will! Hahahahaha! Now stop getting ya knickers in a twist!" (ANI)